21 Apr 2016

Dog owners are being reminded of their responsibilities following a number of dog attacks in Christchurch and other parts of the country.

"The owners of dogs must take responsibility for the action of their dogs. They need to understand that their family pet is an animal and will react to threatening situations without warning,'' said Christchurch City Council Senior Animal Management Officer Bill Kohi.

"Owners must have sensible measures in place to ensure their dog cannot harm people or animals. Every dog is capable of attacking and often the reason will not be evident to their owners or their victims.''

Mr Kohi advises owners of dogs to seek advice and training for their pets and for themselves.

"It is important that dogs are socialised with people and other animals and that owners can keep them under effective control at all times,'' Mr Kohi said.

Two programmes have been developed by the Council to teach the community how to stay safe around dogs.

The DogSmart programme is aimed at school children and is designed to teach them how to prevent dog attacks. The programme reinforces the key safety message of 'if the dog is on its own, leave it alone' but also gives children the skills they need to be safe when approaching a dog.

The DogSafe programme is targeted at adults who may come into contact with dogs during the course of their work, such as posties and meter readers. The programme teaches them how to enter a property safety and how to stay safe if approached by a dog.